Financial well-being August 7, 2017 By
Learning about money is one of the most important life skills every person needs to possess as we enter the working world. In recent years, most high school graduates do not know even the very basics of how to handle a checking account, balance a checkbook, how to save money for an emergency, or live on a budget.
With First United Bank’s pledge to help others Spend Life Wisely® nearly 4,400 students recently received a Certification in Financial Literacy. First United Bank has made the EverFi financial education program possible for students in its communities now for four years in a row.
This year 4,396 students have received EverFi courses in 41 schools across Oklahoma and Texas. In the 2017-2018 school year, First United Bank will be sponsoring 52 schools throughout its communities. First United Bank partnered with EverFi to bring the interactive financial education program to these students at no cost to the schools.
The EverFi learning platform is a web-based program that uses the latest technology – simulations, avatars, gaming, and adaptive-pathing that adapts material to the student – to bring complex financial concepts to life for today’s digital generation. The course offers approximately six hours of programming aimed at teaching, assessing, and certifying students in a variety of relevant financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401k's and other critical concepts for financial literacy. The platform tracks the progress and score of each student and provides students who successfully complete the course with Certification in Financial Literacy.
If you are interested in viewing one, or all, of the Everfi courses above, visit our Spend Life Wisely website and click on Financial Well-Being Courses.
“Helping others Spend Life Wisely isn’t just a promise, it’s an action. Making good financial decisions is crucial to a happy, successful life, but it’s not something we have traditionally learned in school,” said Greg Massey, CEO of First United. “That’s where EverFi comes in. Financial strain is a leading cause of divorce and stress, and we hope to head this trauma off by providing the next generation with knowledge to make sound financial decisions.”
Financial literacy classes and certifications are gaining in importance as evidenced in an article recently written by Abigail Hess for Yahoo Finance, “High schoolers can now earn a $1,000 scholarship for completing a free financial literacy course.” (Yahoo Finance) According to the article, the organization Raise.me wants to provide micro-scholarships, small awards that many colleges and universities grant to students if they end up enrolling in their institution.
According to Ms. Hess, “Starting in the 9th grade, high schoolers can begin earning up to $80,000 in micro-scholarships to over 225 colleges from the organization. Raise.me is currently used by students at one out of two high schools across the country. Through the Raise.me’s financial literacy program, institutions such as The University of Rochester, Oberlin College, and the University of San Diego, will offer students up to $1,000 in scholarships to their institutions if they complete an online personal finance course offered by online curriculum provider EverFi.”
Some of the Oklahoma colleges and universities who are participating in the Raise.me scholarship programs are: University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma Christian University, University of Tulsa, and many more.
Participating Raise.me colleges and universities in Texas include: University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas State University, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas Christian, Austin College, and well as many others.
By learning more about the ins and outs of finance, students can learn to be financially responsible as they enter adulthood. For more information about the scholarships and universities that participate in the program, check out Raise.me.
ABOUT EVERFI
EverFi, Inc. is the leading education technology company focused on teaching, assessing, and certifying K-12 and college students in the critical skills they need for life. The company teams with major corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EverFi investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Rethink Education, New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), and Tomorrow Ventures (the investment arm of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt). Learn more at www.everfi.com.
